Watch: Laverne Cox talks bravely about her suicide attempt as a youth

Actress and activist Laverne Cox has talked openly and bravely about her suicide attempt as a youth in a new interview.

Cox told This Week with George Stephanopoulos she was “bullied and internalized a lot of shame as a child” because of her gender expression.

She said: “There is a cultural environment where trans people are told that who we are is a mistake and that we should try to be someone else.”

Cox said in an off-camera interview with This Week: “I was called sissy, I was called the f-word. I was chased home from school practically every day. There was always a kid or groups of kids who wanted to beat me up.

“The suicide attempt happened when I was in sixth grade and I was having all these feelings about other boys. And I didn’t want to live.”

She added: “I’m really, really happy that I survived. If I didn’t survive, I wouldn’t be here today.”

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